Ignatius Bryanchaninov Quotes

Our helmsman, the mind, sometimes loses his way and takes our whole life along with him down the wrong path.

Try to integrate the Gospel into your mind and heart so that your mind will in a manner of speaking, swim in it, live in it. Then your every action will truly become evangelical.

Let us not foolishly waste our abilities of soul and body; let us not bring them as a sacrifice to the vain and fading world.

When you read the Gospels, do not seek enjoyment, do not search for exalted feelings, do not try to find brilliant thoughts. Seek instead to perfectly see holy Truth.

Being offended at the sins of others is a serious spiritual disease.

Conversation and acquaintance with a saint will impart sanctity.

Earthly wealth does not belong to us, as those who have never thought about this erroneously believe. Otherwise, it always and forever would remain in our possession. But it changes hands constantly, thereby proving that it is given only for us to watch over temporarily.

Wealth belongs to God; man is only the temporary caretaker. A faithful caretaker will follow exactly the wishes of the one who has entrusted the wealth to him. And we, temporarily ruling over the wealth given to us, must rule over it according to the will of God. Let us not use it as a means of indulging our desires and passions, as a resource for eternal perdition. Let us use it for the good of mankind, which lives in need and suffering.

A desire fulfilled is a desire that will return with twice the demands.

Let us guard our senses, not allowing them to be the channel for sin to enter into the cell of the soul.

The world pushes us off course because it serves vanity and death and tries to force everyone else to serve its fallen masters, sometimes with kind words, sometimes with outright persecution..

Brothers! Let us study the all-powerful and life-giving commandments of our great God, Creator, and Redeemer. Let us learn them assiduously, by word and by life. They are read in the holy Gospels, but they are known only as much as they are done in actual fact.

As someone who is in one mind and heart with the Holy Fathers, you will be saved.

It is harder to fool the conscience than the mind. The conscience is capable of fighting long and hard against the mind deluded by its love of sin.

Do not content yourself with unproductive reading of the Gospels; strive to fulfill its commandments, read it with deeds. This is the book of life, and one must read it with one's life.